The air was a bit more humid than yesterday, but it was an otherwise very nice morning in Estabrook Park. I saw far fewer critters than yesterday, however, and perhaps the missing ones have already hit the road for the holiday. They haven’t all gone, thankfully, so here are some of the ones I could find.
We’re still getting new ducklings, and here’s a fresh-looking batch of mallards braving the choppy water just below the falls on what might be their maiden voyage.
These wood duck ducklings, on the other hand look to be at least a couple weeks old already.
The belted kingfishers are still flitting around the islands in the river, and I suspect this is a youngster, just based on how uncharacteristically willing it was to let me sneak a picture.
I can’t tell if this is the same deer we saw supplementing its diet with aquatic plants, but it was on the downstream island and decided to visit the mainland today. It waded for a while, had to swim a short stretch, and when it scrambled back on shore, I thought that was the last I was going to see of it.
But as I was standing in the middle of the meadow looking for butterflies or dragonflies, look who calmly strode right by me. Boy, that meadow is magical right now.
And that’s about it for the birds and mammals today, and I didn’t see many reptiles or amphibians, so here’s one more look at the osprey yesterday when I found it again fishing around the islands.
By the pond today, I did find this dashing blue dasher dragonfly, which is our first of the year.
Finally, in the weeds beside the soccer fields, I found our first clouded sulphur butterfly of the year.
If you are also traveling for the holiday, I hope you have a safe trip!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 